Thanks to advancements in technology, the number of ways in which prospective customers reach out to businesses is constantly increasing. Every time the modern customer wants to learn more about a brand, product, or service, they’ll turn to online platforms. Now that Google has answers to almost everything they want to ask, it’s where most customers now enter queries and obtain the desired information. To capture those customers, businesses work on search engine optimization (SEO) for their websites.

When we mention SEO, we normally refer to organic SEO. However, there’s another critical type of SEO called local SEO. In this guide, we’ll study the differences between organic SEO vs. local SEO.

Organic SEO vs. Local SEO: Key Differences

Location

The biggest difference between the two SEO concepts is that associated with location. Organic searches and the associated results are totally independent of the location of your brick-and-mortar business establishment. They’re typically influenced by your businesses’ social media profiles, the competition, articles or blogs, news etc.

Local SEO, on the other hand, certainly accounts for the geographical component, which is why it strongly depends on your business’ location. For instance, when a Google user searches for “BMW servicing in Michigan”, the search engine will assume that the searcher is looking for a local BMW auto repair shop in Michigan, so it will present results for relevant and trusted businesses in the area.

Strategies

The purpose of organic SEO is to simply secure the top spot on search engine ranking pages (SERPs), which is achieved by a lot of work on on-page and off-page optimization, including working on the title tags, heading tags, meta descriptions, producing high-quality content, link building, optimizing anchor tests, and more.

On the other hand, local SEO is aimed at cracking places that display local results. You need a very different strategy to accomplish that. Working on keyword density and title tags won’t be enough in this case. You’ll also need to create a Google Listing for your business.

Then, you’ll need to get listed in various critical directories in your niche.  Next, your content should be optimized for local searches such using different keywords used in local searches. Other than that, you can encourage your existing customers to write good reviews about your services.

Target Different Positions on SERPs

The main goal of organic SEO is to secure the top spot on Google search rankings, regardless of the location. In the other hand, local SEO has to do with being listed or present at every place where your potential client might look for such as niche forums, directories, and so on.

Links

In the world of SEO, links act as votes that help you achieve increased traffic and better search engine rankings. While links increase the authenticity and relevance of your website for organic SEO, local SEO doesn’t treat them in the traditional way. Their role is rather played by citations in the case of local SEO. Citations refer to the mentions of your Company name, Phone Numbers, and Physical Address on the internet.

The Final Verdict

By now, you should have understood the differences between organic SEO vs. local SEO. If location isn’t as important to you in acquiring customers, you can continue to work on organic SEO. However, if you want to target local customers, you’ll need to shape your strategy toward local SEO.

Thus, your choice of local or organic SEO will largely depend on the nature of your business. For example, if you own a barber shop, an auto repair shop, or any other business that people prefer to find locally, you’ll obviously want to target people who are nearby. In this case, you’ll definitely want to work on a local SEO strategy.